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--- Dark November (http://www.gatchamania.net/threadid.php?threadid=4450)
Posted by ElectricWhite on 25-11-2013 at 19:03:
Dark November
First off, thanks to CW, LW, and Cep for allowing me to pester them with an odd question or two.
Second, make yourself comfy -- this is the longest thing I've ever posted here!
==========
__________________
“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." --Ray Bradbury
Posted by ElectricWhite on 25-11-2013 at 19:05:
A watery sun was barely visible through the overcast November sky. The air wasn't especially cold, but there was just enough of a dampness to let everybody know that snow wasn't too far away.
Daniella T trudged along as if there actually was snow on the ground. Even though she'd lived in Belgium for years, she still hadn't quite gotten used to the feel of this time of year. Her Greek blood just wasn't made for this.
Once again she made a mental note to make a suggestion to Cep -- if the outer Gatchamania.net site had to have the weather found in the Northern Hemisphere, why not try some climates other than Northern Europe? She'd heard Maui's especially nice this time of year....
She looked up just in time to see ElectricWhite wheel herself out of the main Gatchamania.net entrance. Daniella started to call to her friend, but then she noticed something wasn't quite right.
If EW had been walking, she probably would have been stumbling every few steps. As it was, she didn't take the smooth, consistent strokes to propel her wheelchair that Daniella was used to seeing.
Daniella quickened her pace. As she got closer, she heard her friend let out a sputtering gasp, the kind one would make shortly after an intense crying spell. "EW, what's wrong?" Daniella was still a few steps away.
EW looked startled for a moment. She glanced up, saw Daniella, and promptly started wiping her eyes. But her efforts were pointless -- her eyes were red and puffy, and her cheeks were chapped from tears.
Daniella placed a hand on EW's shoulder and tried to make eye contact. EW lowered her head and seemed to focus on a spot of ground just in front of the wheelchair. "You'll find out as soon as you're inside." she finally forced herself to say.
"Come with me."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
EW made a few frustrated sounds as she battled to keep from bursting into tears right there. "Look, you'll just get into trouble if you stick with me!"
"But why -- ?"
"Just get inside!"
"But --"
"JUST GO!!" EW broke free and sped away as quickly as her chair would carry her. She didn't get very far, though, before she let out a couple of gut-wrenching sobs.
Daniella stood there, her mouth wide open as she watched her friend. EW had never acted this way before. In fact, Daniella found herself getting teary-eyed, though she didn't have a clue to what was going on. She then snapped back to reality, closed her mouth, and headed inside.
The mood was uncomfortably somber as she made her way to the main courtyard. She discovered why as soon as she was there. An immense black scroll with white lettering was unfurled and hovering over the center of the courtyard. It said:
I regret to inform you that ElectricWhite has been banned from this site for breaching forum rules.
Due to the nature of her violations, it would be inappropriate to recount them to you.
Please do not open discussions about this matter.
Thank you
Cep - Gatchamania.net Administrator
Daniella gawked at what she saw.What the hell -- ? To make matters worse, she couldn't grab the first member she saw and ask for any details....and there was no way she was going to Cep himself and demand to know what had happened!
"Hey Daniella!" a voice off to the side called. She turned and saw Redbird with Amethyst and Transmute Jun close behind. "We're going to Jill's. Wanna come with?"
"No thanks." DT replied, "I'm not hungry right now."
"But we'd really like for you to come." Amethyst gave DT a look that said they weren't going there for the food.
"Oh, well, all right...."
* * * * *
The foursome sat in a corner booth at Jill's. Each Gatchamaniac had a soda that was going flat from neglect.
"I don't know what to...to think or say about this." Redbird said as she stared at the dissipating bubbles in her glass, "I mean, has this even happened before?"
"Twice." Transmute Jun replied.
"The last guy...well, you can see it coming." Amethyst said, "And let's leave it at that, okay?"
"What about the other one?"
"He was gone before I joined." Amethyst replied.
Keyop came over to them. He carried a tray with a couple of baskets of something battered and fried as well as small cups of ketchup, ranch dressing, and mustard. "On the house." he said as he set the baskets and cups before them, "New recipe -- like to know what you think."
They each picked up a fried thing. The steaming bits were the size of a sliced pickle. They cautiously took a nibble...and then another...
"Hey, these are good!" Redbird proclaimed. "What are they?"
"Fried pickles."
"Where in the hell did you get the idea for that?" Amethyst sounded both shocked and pleasantly surprised.
"From EW." Keyop replied, "She said...popular in...her hometown."
"I can see why." DT said.
"Looks like you've got a keeper, Keyop." TJ added. He let out a happy burble and bounced back to the kitchen. They watched him go before exchanging looks with each other; they each waited for someone else to break the awkward silence that had formed.
"So why was EW banned?" Daniella finally asked, "I never noticed anything that was even close to breaking the rules."
"Maybe she sent offensive Private Messages." TJ said in an emotionless voice, "That way the general membership would be clueless."
The rest let out a sigh and went back to staring at their sodas, their moods returning to the level before Keyop came over to the booth.
* * * * *
Two days later, and many miles away, a teacher sat at her desk, reviewing her lesson plans for the next class period. A tall, burly man wearing a beige trenchcoat, dark stingy fedora, and dark sunglasses slunk into the room. The teacher couldn't keep the expression of dread and intimidation from flashing across her face.
"How did you get in here?" she tried to sound brave.
"That doesn't matter." he replied, sneering down at her.
"I've already done what you wanted -- "
"And you followed the instructions perfectly. Such competence is rare nowadays."
"So why are you here?"
"I'm not done with you."
"No." the teacher calmly replied, though she felt as if she was about to shake herself to pieces, "I've done too much already."
The man in the trenchcoat clicked his teeth. "Oh, I was hoping I wouldn't have to make any threats."
"What could you possibly threaten me wi --?"
The man reached into his coat and pulled out an orange tabby about four weeks old. The kitten looked at the teacher with big green eyes and mewed. The man then pulled out a .45 Magnum handgun and pressed its muzzle against the kitten's head. "Let's see you explain to your kiddies why their classroom is coated with killed kitty cat."
"You sick bastard." she sobbed. She then started crying in earnest.
* * * * *
Transmute Jun lead Redbird along the second floor balcony that rimmed the main courtyard of Gatchamania.net.
"It's a shame we can't find James." TJ said, "I'm sure he could've cleared everything up in no time."
"James?"
"Tatsunokofan."
"Oh."
"Anyway, what's been bugging you?"
"Oh," Redbird sighed, "ever since I found out about the Time Bokan Series, I've been getting everything mixed up. Sometimes it seems like a little anime imp's running through my head, yelling 'Seibai wo shite kureru zo!' ...whatever THAT means."
They stopped in front of a door with a plaque that said "Little Library". TJ opened the door and stuck her head inside. "James? You in here?" she called.
When no answer came, she returned her attention to Redbird. "Well, maybe you can find something that can help in here." She held the door open and gestured for Redbird to step through. Redbird obliged.
"Holy --!" Redbird cried, "This is the LITTLE Library?!"
"Yeah."
"So, uh, exactly how small is it?"
"It's two books shy of the Library of Congress."
Amethyst had just entered the main courtyard when a young man wearing khaki slacks, a polo shirt, horned-rimmed glasses, the Eagle's helmet and white wings rushed up to her.
"Hey, Gary, what's up?"
"You came just in time!" the head of the Gatchageeks replied, "Victoria's on Skype, wanting to talk to you."
"Lead the way!"
Just as they darted under the balcony-walkway, Amethist could hear TJ say "Just holler if you need anything!" while shutting a door.
A zig, a zag, a zig-zag, and a hairpin turn later, they arrived at their destination: a small conference room. Gary opened the door and waved Amethyst through before rushing back the way he came.
"Small" was an understatement, and "conference room" was a misnomer. There was just enough room for an overstuffed chair, a tv tray, and a flatscreen monitor against a wall.
"I take it you got my email?" Amethyst said as she sat in the chair.
"Yes." Victoria replied, "I was sad to hear about EW -- I mean, several recent events."
"Yeah. So, do you have anything for me?"
"As far as I know, the Katse clan had nothing to do with it."
"Oh." Amethyst frowned at this. "I was hoping to find an easy solution."
"Could I ask you a question, Amethyst?"
"Shoot."
"Why am I the one you thought of when you wanted to ask about the Katse clan?"
Amethyst blinked at the purple-masked image on the screen. "Just a shot in the dark."
Before Victoria could respond, there was a low rumble and the floor bucked, throwing Amethyst from the chair.
"What's going on?" Victoria almost yelled, "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay, I don't know what's going on, I'll have to call you back!" Amethyst shouted as she pulled herself up and rushed out of the room.
She quickly made her way back toward the main courtyard. People ran past her and headed toward the Little Library. "Please stay back!" she could hear Gary shouting from just outside the library, "It might not be safe!"
She finally reached a place where she could see Gary standing on the balcony in front of the library, shouting at a small sea of chattering, panicking people below. "Oh, Amethyst!" he shouted, "Could you come up here, please? We need a leader up here."
__________________
“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." --Ray Bradbury
Posted by ElectricWhite on 25-11-2013 at 19:09:
She looked around as if there might be another Amethyst. When she didn't see anyone, she shrugged and headed over to be with the Gatchageek.
Once she got up there she was able to take a peek through the library door. Just inside were two other Gatchageeks -- one dressed as the Owl and the other as the Swan -- holding what looked like slightly larger versions of tablets. Past them was a mountain of books.
"Holy shit." Amethyst breathed, "What happened?"
"Well," the one dressed like the Owl -- a girl about three inches shorter -- turned to her, "we don't know exactly what happened, but something seems to have knocked every book off the shelves."
"Shit. Anybody in there?"
"Redbird." Gary replied.
"According to our sensors," the Owl Gatchageek said, "she's in an air pocket at the very bottom of the book pile."
"She seems okay." the Swan Gatchageek -- a tall guy with a deep baritone voice -- added without looking away from the pile, "I think we can dig her out, if we're really careful about removing the books...."
"What about TJ?" Amethyst asked.
"I don't know where she is." Gary replied, "She wasn't here when I got here."
Amethyst took a deep breath and let it out slowly. After a moment, she realized they were waiting for her to give a command. "Um, I guess you should get some people to form a sort of bucket brigade and start digging Redbird out."
* * * * *
Transmute Jun and Amethyst sat at a booth in Jill's, watching their sodas go flat in front of them. In the middle of the table was a plate of barely- touched nachos; the cheese sauce had begun to congeal.
"I guess I can't blame Redbird for wanting to stay away for a little while." TJ sighed as she picked up a tortilla chip and dragged it through the cheese.
"The trouble is," Amethyst grumbled, "a lot of other people are staying away, too. Gatchamania's becoming a ghost town." She watched TJ draw swirls in the cheese for a few moments before saying, "By the way, where were you when that thing in the library happened?"
"I do have to use the ladies' room once in a while, don'cha know?"
"Oh."
Daniella T came up to the booth and slid in next to TJ.
"Are you okay?" TJ asked, "You seem a little --"
"What happened this time?"
"It's littlewolf." Daniella replied, "They came and used those..." she fumbled for a moment, trying to find the word, "Oh, those loops on the end of sticks...."
"You mean, like dog catchers use to grab animals?" TJ asked.
"Yes! They got one of those around her neck, put a muzzle on her, and then threw her in the back of their van."
"And who, exactly, are 'they'?" Amethyst asked, stifling the urge to yell a curse or ten.
"Animal control!" Daniella cried, "She wasn't even on the site proper yet."
"So how the hell are we gonna deal with that?" Amethyst shrieked. She then slid down into the seat a little when she noticed the few other customers in the place were staring at her.
Daniella waited for the unwanted attention to fade away before saying, "Cep's working on it."
"Good." TJ replied, "He'll set things straight. We really need some good stuff to happen now."
* * * * *
With the exception of football practice at the far end of the campus, the only activity that could be seen was a teacher walking toward her car.
All the more reason why she let out a startled shriek when a tall, burly man wearing a beige trenchcoat, dark stingy fedora, and dark sunglasses suddenly appeared behind her.
"What's that all about?" he said in a mock-soothing tone, "You should've known I'd be showing up sooner or later."
"What do you want now?"
"I'm just here to give you your next set of instructions, that's all." His voice had taken on an oiliness that seemed to seep into her stomach and make her want to vomit. "And there's this..." he said, pulling out a Golden Labrador puppy and putting the .45 Magnum to its head, "...dead puppies aren't much fun, so you'd better not let me down."
"Are you ever going to stop?!"
"Oh yes....but not after one person in particular has a very bad day."
* * * * *
Daniella entered the main courtyard and forced herself to look around. The place had a duller hue...it seemed to be dimly lit.
The schooner-shaped cloud was nowhere to be seen, but she knew that didn't mean Cep wasn't there. Gatchamania.net was a vast site, so it was only natural for the Indomitable Administrator to survey the terrain.
The lack of general membership, however, was bothersome. There were so few regular members around that phantoms could be seen drifting to and fro -- the "guests" listed as visiting the site on a small sign at the entranceway.
Daniella heaved a small sigh as she trudged across the floor. A slow jazz melody began playing, and Billie Holiday's voice drifted down to her ears.
Sunday is gloomy,
My hours are slumberless,
Dearest the shadows
I live with are numberless
Little white flowers will
never awaken you
Not where the black coach
of sorrow has taken you
Angels have no thought of
ever returning you
Would they be angry
if I thought of joining you
Gloomy Sunday.
Daniella came to an abrupt stop. Tears were in her eyes, but she had no idea why. She started wiping her eyes.
"Prithee, fair damsel, wherefore dost thou become so crestfallen?" A phantom guest had appeared before her, dressed like William Shakespeare.
She blinked a couple of times. What language was this guy speaking, anyway? "I'm sorry, I don't understand you."
"Thou hast the melodious tongue of exotic extraction!" He paused a moment, considering his next words. "Thine tears besmirch thine countenance."
Tears! She recognized that, at least! In her mind she crossed her fingers. "I guess," she said, carefully picking her words, "all the things that have been happening --"
"Ah, verily, these are dark times that sting the soul." he said with a sigh, "But, fear not, for righteousness shall surely prevail." With that, he vanished in a whisp of smoke.
Once the phantom was gone, Daniella saw Mark and Jason in BirdStyle a short distance away. They were clearly walking toward her, but they didn't seem in any particular hurry to reach her.
Gloomy Sunday
Dreaming
I was only dreaming
I wake and I find you
asleep in the deep of
my heart, dear
Her smile faded when they reached her. "Is there something wrong?"
"We're here on business." Mark replied in a gentle yet firm tone, "Can I have your cooperation?"
"Sure." she answered, "I'll do anything."
Jason let out a derisive snort and looked away.
"Mark, is there something wrong?"
The commander of G-Force took a deep breath. "Daniella T, a.k.a. Jessica Anderson, a.k.a. Violet Vixen, a.k.a. Wanda Littlelovin, a.k.a. --"
"Do you really have to go through the entire list?" Jason sounded both annoyed and hurt. He still wouldn't look at Daniella.
"I guess not." Mark sighed. "Anyway, you're under arrest for acts of high treason against the Galactic Federation."
* * * * *
The trees in the main courtyard were a welcome splash of green for the members whose homes were in the thralls of winter. They were...but over the past few days the trees' leaves had shriveled and fallen to the ground.
Transmute Jun, Amethyst, KT1972, Springie and clouddancer had come to the site to sweep up the leaves, to keep the place from completely falling into the gloom that was enveloping the area. After a little more than two hours' work, they took a break under one of the more popular trees, ignoring the fact that the bench was now by a thin skeleton instead of the image of lush green health.
TJ took a quick glance at her friends and stifled a sigh. If Cep had been there, would he have noticed the slight droop everyone's posture had taken on?
She looked away from them and let her mind wander. But it didn't go very far when she noticed ChrisW had entered the courtyard. And behind Chris -- uncomfortably close -- was a tall, burly man wearing a beige trenchcoat, dark fedora, and dark sunglasses.
"I'm sorry guys." Chris said to her fellow Gatchamaniacs, "I saw him lurking around outside." She seemed to be exerting considerable effort to keep a calm tone in her voice. "I tried to find out what he was doing here, but I should've stayed away."
"Ladies," the strange man said, nodding to the group on the park bench, "tell me where he is."
The group on the bench exchanged confused looks. "Um," Amethyst finally said, "who?"
"Cepeleon!" the man raised his voice just a little, but it was just enough to make everyone else flinch. "Tell me where that self-proclaimed pirate king is --" He pulled out a .45 Magnum and pressed the end of the barrel against Chris's temple. "-- or you'll get to see what's on Miss White's mind in a way you never expected!"
Nobody noticed that a half-dozen puppies and kittens fell out of the trenchcoat when the stranger pulled out the gun.
The stranger kept his eyes on the faces of the fivesome on the bench. He looked like he was about to drool at the sight of the color draining from their faces.
"I must admit," he breathed into ChrisW's ear, "I was hoping to do this to Electric White, but she was the first to go, wasn't she?"
"Go?" Chris's breath started coming in small, shuddering gasps, "You mean she's --?"
"Um," TJ said with a barely audible quiver in her voice, "we don't know exactly where Cep is, but if you give us a few minutes, we can track him down ..."
"Do you think I'm an idiot?"
"What? No --"
"You're not fooling me! While I think you're off 'looking' for him, you're actually putting out a call for help!"
"It looks like you've got everything figured out." Amethyst said, not sure how successful she was at sounding calm.
The stranger gave Amethyst a grin that soured her stomach.
__________________
“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." --Ray Bradbury
Posted by ElectricWhite on 25-11-2013 at 19:12:
"Uh," Chris said as she tried to regain her composure, "could I just sit with the others?" The gun barrel was no longer cold against her temple.
"All right." the stranger said as he pulled the gun away and pushed her toward the other five. "You can sit there while we wait for him to show up."
There wasn't enough room on the bench, so Chris sat on the ground, positioned so that she could see both the group and the trenchcoat-wearing man.
There was an uncomfortable, nervous silence.
TJ couldn't look at the gunman. Instead, her eyes drifted to a point past him, somewhere in the gloom that had become the courtyard. And then her mind wandered.
She was walking past a conference room when she heard the sound of ocean waves crashing against a rocky shore.
"Well, I've been doing okay." TJ could hear ElectricWhite say, "Nothing to complain about."
TJ realized that Cep was having a meeting with EW. TJ moved closer to the shut door -- Cep usually didn't communicate with the general membership this way, and this piqued her curiosity.
"No, I haven't been having any problems with --"
More waves on the shore.
"I didn't write that, Cep....or that one....definitely not that one....
"Yeah," EW continued after a pause, "that looks like my....but I didn't write any of that!
"I don't know....I guess I could've been hacked, but how can I tell?
"No, I know. It's all damning, and I haven't got a thing to back me up."
After a few moments, TJ heard the click the EW's wheelchair made when the brakes were being unlocked. TJ stepped away from the door and ducked into the nearest empty room. Hopefully nobody saw her eavesdropping....
While TJ was deep in thought, KT1972 quietly cleared her throat. The silence wasn't doing her nerves a bit of good, and she didn't like the thought of the guy with a big gun getting nervous. She'd seen plenty of television shows where the hostages talked to the hostage-taker to make a connection, to keep things from getting too tense, so --
"How did you manage to pull this off?" she asked but then felt ill. Was that tone too harsh? Did she seem too nosy?
"What?" He wasn't expecting that question.
KT lost her nerve and her voice.
"Well," Springie jumped in when she saw KT's eyes begin to grow wide, "you couldn't possibly have done this on a whim."
Oh, thank you Springie! KT thought.
"Well," the stranger said after a small pause, "I did have help." He then let out something that was a cross between a snort and a snicker. "I wonder how many people would entrust their kids to her if they knew how easy it was to get her to destroy such an important part of so many lives!" His accent slipped for just a brief moment -- there was something familiar in that accent, but none of the Gatchamaniacs could place it.
"What do you mean by that?" Springie asked.
"I mean, she's a teacher! Do I have to draw pictures?"
"That's almost everybody here." Chris muttered, not realizing she'd actually said it.
"So you think it's one of us ?" Springie asked Chris in a hushed tone.
"TJ," clouddancer said in a gentle tone, "what's wrong?"
TJ hadn't realized that big, round tears had been spilling over her cheeks until then.
"He's talking about you, isn't he?" Amethyst asked, her voice revealing that she wasn't sure what to think about that question.
TJ buried her face in her hands. "He was going to do such horrible things if I didn't do what he told me!"
Images of TJ's family tied to chairs while the stranger pointed his gun at them flashed through the other Gatchamaniacs' minds. The stranger let out a derisive snort.
That's enough! everyone in the courtyard felt Cep say.
"Well, it's about time!" the stranger shouted into the air, "I was beginning to think you didn't care what happened to these ladies!"
A minute passed. And then another. The stranger's eyes narrowed as his face turned red. "So where the hell are you, then?" His accent slipped again.
Turn around.
The stranger obliged. "How pathetic! You're too much of a coward to face me!"
Almost as one the Gatchamaniacs finally realized why the stranger's accent was familiar -- it was the same as Cep's.
Look up.
Again, the stranger did as he was told. He finally saw the schooner-shaped cloud, its starboard side facing him.
Do I know you? You look familiar....
The stranger glared at the cloud. "You bastard." he growled, "After all the hell I went through in school..."
Everyone on the ground could sense the look of mild confusion on Cep's face.
The stranger let out a disgusted snort. "Nigel Malandra." he grumbled.
Snotnose! I didn't recognize you without that green drip you always had on the end of your --
"Shut up!" Snotnose whipped around to face the women who had made a few small, disgusted noises, "I had a chronic sinus condition!" His tone changed then, as though he could hear sad violin music playing. "It was awful. Nobody would even come near me."
If you'd just blow your nose now and then --
"SHUT UP!" Snotnose roared as he spun back around toward Cep. "What the hell do you know? Everything's been so easy for you!" He took a couple of breaths, "Well, that ends now. November 27th used to be a happy day for you, Cep, but now I'm making it the worst day of your life!" He raised the .45 Magnum pistol and fired....
...And showed the world he'd never actually fired this type of gun before in his life. He'd held the gun as if there would be no kickback whatsoever. So, once he pulled the trigger, both the gun and his hand flew back and knocked him squarely in the face. He fell back onto his rear and bounced a couple of times.
He sat there, stunned, while a red welt formed down the center of his face and a little blood trickled from his nose. ChrisW pounced, knocking the gun from his hand. KT, Amethyst, and clouddancer then sprang into action. They let out an angry cry (though all they could hear was a ringing in their ears, thanks to the gun's concussion) while knocking Snotnose onto his belly and pinning him to the floor.
Snotnose, you're a little off.
"A LITTLE OFF?!" KT yelled over the overpowering whine in her ears, "HE'S NUTS!"
True, but I was referring to the day. He wanted to make November 27th the worst day of my life; today's the 25th.
"LIAR!" Snotnose bellowed. Clouddancer pulled out a cell phone and held it where he could read the screen. "Oh shit." he muttered; he sounded as if he was about to cry.
Transmute Jun still covered her face with her hands. But the tears were finally slowing down and her breathing was becoming steady. She pulled her hands away from her face, wiped away the last of the tears, and looked toward the schooner-shaped cloud.
TJ, are you ready to put things right?
* * * * *
The evening of November 27th arrived at the Gatchamania.net site. The trees in the main courtyard were once again full of lush, green leaves. The Little Library was back in order. The black scroll was gone. Redbird -- and anybody else who had received minor injuries -- were healing well. Littlewolf had been rescued from the animal shelter (though many in the membership wanted to get her microchipped to prevent this from happening again.) All charges against Daniella had been dropped, and "Snotnose" Nigel Malandra had been taken into custody -- there weren't any specific charges yet, but Chief Anderson was sure some law was broken in the process of setting up DT. Even the puppies and kittens that had escaped from the trenchcoat were now in loving homes. All was back to blissful normality.
Except for one thing.
"Maybe I should've gone there myself." Transmute Jun said as she sat despondently on a bench under a tree.
"Maybe there really was a special episode of Comasario Rex that she'd been wanting to see for a really long time." Princess replied.
"What I did must've really hurt her."
"Once she found out you were under duress, I'm sure she'll --"
"I betrayed her trust in this place. I wouldn't be surprised if she never came back."
"Give Mark and Jason a chance. I'm sure that, after talking things over calmly, she'll come back and work things out."
Just then Mark and Jason were spotted walking toward Princess and TJ. Mark pushed ElectricWhite's empty wheelchair while Jason followed with EW tied up, gagged, and slung over his shoulder.
"You mean there wasn't a special episode --" Princess asked.
"Oh there was a special episode, alright." Mark said as he positioned the wheelchair and locked its brakes, "But she failed to mention that Comisario Rex is dubbed into 20 different languages."
"And subbed into God knows how many more!" Jason added. With a small grunt, he lifted EW off his shoulder and carefully placed her in the chair.
"But why --" Princess wasn't able to finish her sentence.
"She probably hasn't wanted to come back since she found out I'm the one who got her banned." TJ's voice was thick with sadness as she interrupted.
EW sighed and cast her eyes to the floor.
"Well, I'd say this is a fine opportunity to iron things out." Mark said, his eyes moving from EW to TJ. He started unfastening EW's gag.
"Sounds good to me!" Jason chirped as he started to walk away.
"Jase --"
"What?"
"Help untie her."
"Why? She's a lot easier to work with like this."
Mark glared at him. Jason glared back and then started working on the knots.
Nobody paid attention to how long Transmute Jun and ElectricWhite talked. But everyone else there kept their distance while those two dealt with the pain and grief caused by recent events.
However, the rest of the membership gathered in small groups, quietly discussing their nervousness over the unknown significance of the date. They'd all heard about "Snotnose" Nigel Malandra shouting, "November 27th used to be a happy day for you, Cep, but now I'm making it the worst day of your life!"
__________________
“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." --Ray Bradbury
Posted by ElectricWhite on 25-11-2013 at 19:14:
And this was the reason G-Force was there, ready to transmute at the first sign of trouble. Was Nigel Malandra just somebody who couldn't let go of a pathetic childhood jealousy, or was he an agent of Spectra? He was dressed as an agent, after all. Also, could there still be a threat, even though Snotnose was safely locked away in one of Galactic Security's "undisclosed locations"?
TJ and EW finally left the spot under the tree. But they didn't get far before Amethyst came up to them. "Look," she said, "I'm not sure what to think about the mood here. Everybody seems to be waiting for something to happen."
"Well," EW replied, "I had been planning something for today, but I quit when I got banned."
TJ opened her mouth to speak in her defense, but then she realized EW wasn't making a barbed comment toward her.
"Still," EW continued without pause, "I think I can salvage enough...do you think you could get a few people to pull out the portable shrine, Ame?"
A short time later, Mark, Jason, Tiny, and a Gatchageek who was built like Tiny but wore the Swallow's colors groaned as they strained to push the portable shrine.
"EW, your idea of 'portable' sucks!" Jason grunted as soon as he was within earshot.
Finally, the golden shrine gleamed in the center of the main courtyard. It was a model of the schooner-shaped cloud so often seen floating throughout the site, roughly 1/32 scale. The ship was on top of a base about 4 feet tall, and the base has casters underneath it.
The general membership kept a wide berth to the shrine as they watched EW wheel up to it, open a door in the base, and pull out a basket filled with different varieties of Bacardi and Captain Morgan. With Tiny's help, the basket was hoisted onto the poop deck of the model ship. She then pulled out a music box, wound it, and (again, with Tiny's help) set it on the deck. As she backed away, tiny, tinny strains of "Happy Birthday" filled the air.
"Wait a minute," Becky Rock called out for all to hear, "are you saying it's Cep's birthday?"
"Yup." EW replied. With that, those members who thought they had a good singing voice accompanied the music box. As soon as that was done, Gatchamania.net broke into full party mode.
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"Gloomy Sunday" composed by Rezso Serass. Lyrics by Laszlo Javor, translated by Sam M. Lewis.
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“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." --Ray Bradbury
Posted by Redbird on 25-11-2013 at 23:38:
Well, that was some story EW! You always offer up an entertaining tale. Glad to hear everything worked out in the end, and all puppies and kittens went to loving homes.
BTW: Loved DT's many names! The "Katse-clan" quip gets points too. 
Also glad to hear I made out from under that pile of books in the Little Library. Thank goodness for the air pocket! I might have passed out without it. 
Happy "Early" Birthday Cep! 
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Playing darts with the Condor's feather shuriken...
Posted by Becky Rock on 26-11-2013 at 00:23:
That was long, EW and the 27th is also my anniversary.
It is true that the ranks have been thin lately. I haven't been able to spend as much time here with my son's football season in full swing as I'd like, but football's over now.
I'd like to say to those who have been lurking around but haven't introduced themselves, think about saying hi. We'd love to have you all participate.
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I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers so far...
Posted by Pufles65 on 26-11-2013 at 17:00:
Loved the story EW I finally finished school and hope to be on more often.
Posted by Daniella T on 26-11-2013 at 21:50:
Okay all, I have an announcement to make: I just finished NaNo, and now I can ready EW's story!!!
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They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally, they became heroes -- Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.
Posted by Daniella T on 26-11-2013 at 22:29:
EW, you're a genius! 
This was the best thing I could read after finishing NaNo.
P.S. Glad to see the charges were dropped! 
And of course...Happy Birthday Cep, and Becky!
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They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally, they became heroes -- Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.
Posted by ChrisW on 27-11-2013 at 05:07:
Hehe, trust my curiosity to get me into trouble!
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Eagle Whisperer
Posted by k2p2 on 27-11-2013 at 15:40:
Nice story, EW. Pass the rum though, I see Black Friday looming on my horizon.
Lots of stuff going on my homefront though, culminating in the spring graduation of my daughter…until then I will be here when I can.
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The world looks less difficult when standing next to a close friend.
Posted by ElectricWhite on 27-11-2013 at 16:50:
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Aw, shucks!
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“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." --Ray Bradbury
Posted by amethyst on 27-11-2013 at 16:50:
Too Funny, EW!
Happy Birthday, Cep!
Happy Anniversary, Becky!
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Perspective Alters Reality
Posted by KT1972 on 27-11-2013 at 18:36:
Great story EW! I loved it 
And Cep And Becky......
Hope you both enjoy your special day
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Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope. - HELEN KELLER
Posted by Becky Rock on 28-11-2013 at 00:52:
We went out to dinner and shared a slice of strawberry cheesecake afterwards (since hubby is diabetic). I know - disgustingly gushy! 21st.
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I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers so far...
Posted by Victoria on 01-12-2013 at 06:52:
Eeh, I'm there as well! Ooh, and I'm Katse-clan too. At least I can make souffles and brulees and all manner of elaborate desserts to cheer Lord Katse up whenever a mission goes awry. Poor EW and TJ... especially the latter (I admit I found the image of gagged EW slung over Jason's shoulder rather funny). I'd send a chocolate terrine if I could. (oh, and I'd also adopt all those kitties)
Thanks, EW. I enjoyed this a lot. It reallly made my day after a difficult afternoon shift. 
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Die Sonne tönt, nach alter Weise, In Brudersphären Wettgesang, und ihre vorgeschriebne Reise, vollendet sie mit Donnergang.
My fanart is here
Posted by ElectricWhite on 01-12-2013 at 15:14:
Glad you liked it, Victoria!
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“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." --Ray Bradbury
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